The Four Seasons

A serious spring. A tumultuous summer. A quiet autumn. A raging white winter.

These were the prevailing moods as Houston Ballet ushered in The Four Seasons, artistic director Stanton Welch’s newest work, Thursday.

Using Antonio Vivaldi’s popular, circa 1725 score, Welch efficiently weaves together four short stories that depict women (or a woman – it’s open to interpretation) experiencing life passages. A young woman leaves her family for a man; a married woman has a torrid affair; an empty nester has to readjust; an older woman loses her husband.

While the plot is a tad predictable, Welch taps deftly into the score’s underlying turmoil. His choreography demands rapid-fire technique, lush lyricism and superb acting. (He’s replaced symbolic mime with realistic gestures and “talking” — so it feels like you’re watching TV with the sound off, while Vivaldi plays on the stereo.)

The Summer concerto section sizzles partly because it surprises. Where I’ve always heard insects buzzing in the music, Welch provides a foursome of swift-footed, shirtless guys. No question, when they come cavorting, they’re trouble for the unsettled married woman.

All of Thursday’s cast was excellent. Melody Herrera (has a ballerina’s first name ever been more fitting?) blossomed like a rose in Spring. And small wonder, given Her First Love, Connor Walsh, who looked exceptionally dreamy.

Amy Fote and Ian Casady stirred up good passion in Summer. Kelly Myernick (with Simon Ball) was engagingly vulnerable in Autumn, while a regal Barbara Bears ate up the stage with her grief in Winter.

Ermanno Florio and the Houston Ballet Orchestra provided the dancers with crisp, clean musical air. Violinist Denise Tarrant played with stylistic depth and buoyancy, minus a few distractingly raw seconds.

The sets and costumes are museum-worthy. Kandis Cook’s romantic costumes are the most luscious, soft hues. Their long skirts flow like breezes with the women’s bodies, and the men’s britches and coats are both dignified and sexy.

Thomas Boyd’s huge, picture-perfect tree grounds the dance with a nice sense of place, while time’s advance is aptly marked with falling leaves. Christina Giannelli’s lighting is stunning, especially in the blizzard of Winter.

Theatrical effects and super performances all-around (including that of pianist Katherine Burkwall-Ciscon) also made the company premiere of Jiri Kylian’s Petite Mort a winner. This 1991 masterpiece to two Mozart concertos mixes sexy, angular partnering for six couples with humor and visual trickery. The French title means “little death” but also has a slang connotation; the contorted shapes of bodies suggest female reproductive parts.

The shirtless guys do an intriguing dance with swords before the music begins, then more drama erupts as they run to pick up a huge, black cloth, from which the corseted women emerge. For those who haven’t seen it before, I won’t spoil the ballgown bit – but it’s one of the reasons audiences love this piece.

William Forsythe’s dynamic In the middle, somewhat elevated is even better suited to today’s fast-moving Houston Ballet dancers than it was when the company first performed it eight years ago. Myernick, Fote, Walsh, Casady and Randy Herrera were razor-sharp in the featured roles.

Need more convincing? Check out the videos from Wednesday’s dress rehearsal.

The program repeats at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sept. 28-29 and 2 p.m. Sunday and Sept. 30 at the Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas. Tickets are $17-$125 at www.houstonballet.org or 713-227-2787.

Did you see the show? Like it? Hate it? Have questions about it? Lemme know.